Sharpton often responds to incidents involving racially sensitive topics, as he did last week when he went to Ferguson, Missouri, after an unarmed black youth was shot and killed by a white police officer. Some black leaders in Missouri expressed concern that Sharpton’s presence would hurt their efforts to quell the violence that had followed the shooting.

“Al Sharpton is doing his thing. That’s what he does. He fans flames, there’s no question about it,” Trump said on Monday. “For him, it’s a cottage industry. He makes a living.”

When there is conflict, Trump said Sharpton “stands on a soap box and he rants and raves.” He said while some people liked what Sharpton does, he said, “many, many people don’t like it.”

Trump called the riots and looting in Ferguson a “very sad situation,” adding that during recent travels overseas he thought the incident was painting a poor picture of the United States.

“I was in Mumbai [India]…And, everywhere I went, this story was following me. And, I was watching it on television, and they are making a very big deal of it outside the United States. It’s very, very bad,” Trump said.